Chapter 17: Kim Ji-Hee (1)

Shine Guild, Golden Lion Building, the Hunters Association... and finally, DG Guild.

Ji Seok-Hyun went through the list of all the A-Class and B-Class guilds that he could remember, but the name DG wasn't ringing any bells.

"Which city is that guild based in?" Ji Seok-Hyun asked.

"The guild is based in Seoul," replied his guild member.

"In Seoul?" Ji Seok-Hyun repeated. "But this is the first time I've heard about it?"

"The guild was established at the end of May," the guild member explained.

"Which means that it's been around for less than a month?"

"That's right."

Ji Seok-Hyun frowned. "A new guild like that actually joined forces with two A-Class guilds to carry out a criminal round-up operation?"

The guild member could only nod in response. "Yes, that seems to be the case."

"I'm asking this just in case." Ji Seok-Hyun leaned back into his chair, an uncertain look on his face as if even he couldn't believe that he was asking this question. "Is it possible that that pocket-sized guild was the one in charge of the whole operation?"

"That's..." the guild member hesitated. "According to the operations team, the DG Guild does seem to be the one who convinced the Shine Guild and the Golden Lion Guild to carry out this criminal round-up operation."

"And their reason for believing that is?" Ji Seok-Hyun pressed.

"Someone heard a story from a newspaper reporter that they were acquainted with. In early June, a man visited the Shine Guild, and within thirty minutes of his arrival, the Guildmaster, who had been out on a Gate clearing mission, and Kang-Ho, her secretary who doubled as her bodyguard, made an early return to the guild," reported the guild member.

"And that man was the Guildmaster of this new guild?" Ji Seok-Hyun clarified.

"Yes. And there is also something else," the guild member added.

"Something else?" Ji Seok-Hyun leant forward.

The guild member nodded, but even though he saw that Ji Seok-Hyun was staring at him intently, waiting for an explanation, he struggled with what to say for a few moments.

Ji Seok-Hyun frowned. "What is it?"

The Hunter hesitated. "Well, that's..."

"Enough already, just say it," Ji Seok-Hyun demanded impatiently.

"He did a livestream," the guild member finally spat out.

Ji Seok-Hyun was taken aback. "He did what?"

"He streamed over the internet using MeTube," the Hunter further elaborated.

Ji Seok-Hyun tilted his head in confusion. "And why should that matter? We also do the same thing."

As befitting of an A-Class guild, the Phoenix Guild also devoted a lot of effort toward making their guild known to the general public.

They regularly held promotions.

They made frequent donations.

They often did volunteer work.

And they even arranged for the most famous Hunters in their guild to regularly appear on popular TV programs and shared films of them fighting against non-humanoid monsters. Though, of course, they didn't share any of the fights that were bloody enough to warrant an "R" rating.

The guild member further explained, "No, he held the livestream right before the start of the operation to subdue the Awakened criminals."

Ji Seok-Hyun was shocked, "

Hah?

"

The guild member continued, "That is the reason why our PR team found out about the operation to subdue the Awakened criminals before the operations team did."

"So you're saying that DG Guild opened up a livestream right before the start of the operation to subdue the Awakened criminals?" Ji Seok-Hyun slowly confirmed.

"Yes." The guild member nodded.

"Even though they were working together with the Shine Guild and the Golden Lion Guild?"

"That's correct."

"Despite the fact that the operation was meant to subdue a group of Awakened criminals, which requires minimizing all information leaks?"

The Hunter hesitated before saying, "That seems to be the case."

Ji Seok-Hyun frowned, "And they just let it happen? Both Shine Guild and the Golden Lion Guild?"

"According to the story that the Hunter heard, the DG Guild's Guildmaster, Kim Ki-Rok, formed a perfect encirclement around the gang beforehand," the guild member elaborated.

"No,

hmph.

Even if that was the case, no matter what..." Ji Seok-Hyun slowly shook his head in disbelief.

"The operations team believe that the livestream may have been opened so suddenly and without warning that the Shine Guild and the Golden Lion Guild couldn't do anything to stop it," the guild member added.

"

Ha, hahaha...

" Ji Seok-Hyun could only chuckle.

At this point, the whole story almost seemed ridiculous.

After he had calmed down, Ji Seok-Hyun continued, "So because of that, we suspect that the DG Guild is the one who dragged both the Shine Guild and the Golden Lion Guild into this? As well as arranging the entire operation to subdue a group of Awakened criminals that was recently conducted in Gongju?"

"Yes." The guild member nodded.

"So in that gang of Awakened criminals, are there any Named Hunters that we would recognize?" Ji Seok-Hyun asked with a frown.

The guild member gulped. "They had Ma Ak-Soo."

This was turning out to be quite the headache.

If this had been an ordinary gang of Awakened criminals, the whole livestream would only be viral for a short while before dying off.

However, as an operation to eliminate a gang of Awakened criminals led by the S-Class, Ma Ak-Soo, it was a completely different story.

"For the next few months, all that people will be talking about are the Shine Guild and the Golden Lion Guild." Ji Seok-Hyun groaned.

Then there was also the DG Guild.

Although it was a brand-new guild, after making such a shocking introduction, it would surely become a hot topic for a while.

After organizing the situation in his head, Ji Seok-Hyun gave instructions to the rest of the guild members gathered in the conference room.

"This might be late, but it would look good for us to also start subduing some Awakened criminals. As such, go and find out which gangs of Awakened criminals operate in our immediate vicinity. Also..." Ji Seok-Hyun trailed off.

His guild members nervously waited for their orders.

"Keep an eye on the DG Guild," Ji Seok-Hyun eventually declared.

***

The fight didn't last for too long.

Blood-soaked criminals were strewn about all over the place, and Ma Ak-Soo had been brought to his knees with both of his arms chopped off.

"

Huff... huff...

" Baek Min-Hyuk panted.

Baek Min-Hyuk had faced Ma Ak-Soo in the past, but he had allowed Ma Ak-Soo to get away because he wasn't prepared for the latter's Invisibility Skill. He had also lost comrades in the process of failing to capture Ma Ak-Soo.

That was why he had no intention of allowing Ma Ak-Soo to die a swift death.

Lee Yeon-Hwa felt the same way.

She didn't have the same history that Baek Min-Hyuk shared with Ma Ak-Soo, but in another sense, she held an even deeper grudge against the man.

Because of Ma Ak-Soo, her son had almost become a test subject, therefore she had no intention of allowing him to die so easily.

"Hunter Baek Min-Hyuk," Lee Yeon-Hwa coldly called.

Baek Min-Hyuk raised his head, "Ah, what is it?"

"Will it be alright if I'm the one to kill him?" Lee Yeon-Hwa requested.

Baek Min-Hyuk had already heard the full story.

Thankfully, Lee Yeon-Hwa had managed to get her lost son back.

However, the problem lay in the place where she had found him. He had been in a human experiment research center created by Ma Ak-Soo, which he had secretly been running under the disguise of being an orphanage.

The grudge of a mother who had almost lost her child ran deeper than the ocean.

When Baek Min-Hyuk complied by taking a step backward, Lee Yeon-Hwa bowed her head in gratitude and stepped forward to deal the final blow.

It was at that moment that Ma Ak-Soo let out a roar. "It's you, you son of a bitch!"

Even though he had lost both his arms and was pinned under the stares of two deadly enemies, he still had the strength to glare at Kim Ki-Rok and throw an insult his way.

"Hm? You haven't killed him yet?" a voice asked calmly.

Lee Yeon-Hwa and Baek Min-Hyuk turned their heads to the side.

Standing there was Kim Ki-Rok, who had been busy looting the artifacts of the deceased Awakened criminals.

No, was it really the time or place for that?

And was it really okay for him to be doing that?

Couldn't he have waited until the round-up operation was completely over?

"You... You fucker! Just what kind of bastard are you!" Ma Ak-Soo continued bellowing.

As he looked around for artifacts using Discernment, Kim Ki-Rok "politely" introduced himself once more, "I am the Guildmaster of the brand-new DG Guild, Kim Ki-Rok. Does that answer your question, Awakened criminal, Ma Ak-Soo?"

"Who cares about that! I'm asking, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ma Ak-Soo furiously demanded.

Kim Ki-Rok just chuckled, "Hehehe, like I said, I am the Guildmaster of—"

"Aaargh, you son of a..." Using his last bit of strength, Ma Ak-Soo managed to force himself up onto one foot.

Boom!

Lee Yeon-Hwa immediately struck him back down onto the ground with her longsword.

"

Ah!

" Kim Ki-Rok gasped in realization. "Are you asking me how I found out about you?"

"Yes, that!

Cough! Cough!

" Ma Ak-Soo replied, spewing out blood.

He was already on the verge of death, but even as he writhed in agony, he still had the strength to glare at Kim Ki-Rok.

"Hmmm... It seems quite difficult to explain. Ah, you should be able to understand it with this."

Kim Ki-Rok, who had been crouching down to examine an artifact, threw the cheap piece of equipment over his shoulder as he got back up onto his feet. "Ma Ak-Soo. Age 43. Level 73. Possesses a total of three supernatural abilities. Born in XX, South Gyeongsang Province, awakened at the age of 27. Abandoned by his parents before he was even a year old, he grew up in an orphanage."

Kim Ki-Rok stopped reading Ma Ak-Soo's profile and suddenly lost his temper, "No, just thinking about it makes me even a

ngrier

. How could someone who grew up in an orphanage even think of using orphanages for such an evil purpose?"

Ma Ak-Soo trembled in shock.

Kim Ki-Rok continued, "After his Awakening, it seems that it was easy for him to lose all restraint, as if he didn't have any in the first place. Less than four days after he awakened, he killed one of the customers of the delivery service he was working for as well as a senior coworker because they apparently liked to lord their power over him.

"Fleeing the scene of the crime, he used his status as an Awakened to smuggle himself to China where he worked for a Chinese criminal organization. When he reached Level 50 at the age of thirty-three, he smuggled himself back to Korea, whereupon he founded his own Awakened criminal organization."

Ma Ak-Soo took a deep breath.

"The name of the organization was the Ma Ak-Soo Clan. They killed Hunters who worked alone when clearing Gates or doing other Gate activities. In order to hide the fact that they were located here, they would travel to Gyeonggido in order to stage their attacks on armored vehicles that carried money from banks or transported valuable artifacts.

"Five years ago, they tried to confirm some of the research results that were being done on psychic abilities and reported on the news. They also decided to see if there were other methods for awakening abilities," Kim Ki-Rok said, finally reaching the end of the record.

Ma Ak-Soo stammered, "Y-you... You are..."

"I think that this is enough of an explanation, isn't it?" Kim Ki-Rok said, turning his back to the shocked gazes of those who had been listening to his explanation and returning to his task of looting Awakened criminals' weapons.

"

Ah.

" gasping as if he had suddenly forgotten something, Kim Ki-Rok turned back to Lee Yeon-Hwa and asked, "Would you care for a drink?"

***

Downtown Gongju.

Screeeeech.

"Aaaaaagh!

" Kim Ki-Rok, who had just returned to the center of the city on a tour bus, stretched his whole body with a loud groan before turning to look back at Lee Yeon-Hwa and Baek Min-Hyuk, who were just getting off the bus.

They had seemed curious about the fact that he had known all that information about Ma Ak-Soo.

Though, to be more precise, it was mostly Baek Min-Hyuk.

Lee Yeon-Hwa was busy glancing over at the cafe, growing increasingly nervous the closer she got to meeting her son.

The children who had been rescued from the orphanage were wandering around all over the cafe.

"Why don't we stop here for today. We can talk at our leisure the next time we meet," Kim Ki-Rok suggested.

"Alright!" Lee Yeon-Hwa enthusiastically agreed.

"Huh? Ah, alright," Baek Min-Hyuk belatedly conceded.

It was impossible for Lee Yeon-Hwa, who was running a guild as large as Shine Guild, to not know the importance of gathering information.

However, Baek Min-Hyuk immediately agreed after he saw Lee Yeon-Hwa's unwillingness to leave a young boy inside the cafe, one who was taking care of his even younger siblings.

"That sounds like a good idea," Baek Min-Hyuk nodded firmly. "Well then, I look forward to meeting you again in the future, Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok."

"Yes." Kim Ki-Rok nodded back. "If you ever come to Seoul, please make sure to contact me right away."

"Will do. In that case, if you ever come to Daegu, please be sure to contact me at any time. Though, well, I feel like I will probably have to visit Seoul before that happens," Baek Min-Hyuk admitted.

Kim Ki-Rok smiled. "I would be pleased to do so. Thank you for all of your hard work today."

Baek Min-Hyuk shook his head "No, thank you for all the work you did."

"Will you be returning immediately?" Kim Ki-Rok asked.

"No. The members of my guild have also done a lot of hard work, so we'll be getting some rest for today before heading back. How about you, Hunter Kim Ki-Rok?" Baek Min-Hyuk asked curiously.

"I'm afraid that I'll be returning immediately. We are a brand-new guild after all.

Hahahaha.

" Kim Ki-Rok chuckled.

After staring at Kim Ki-Rok who had burst into exaggerated laughter, Baek Min-Hyuk bid farewell to Lee Yeon-Hwa and then left with his fellow guild members.

Kim Ki-Rok turned to face the remaining Guildmaster. "Well then, Guildmaster Lee Yeon-Hwa."

"Ah, yes?" a distracted Lee Yeon-Hwa responded.

"Are you ready?" Kim Ki-Rok carefully asked.

"I'm... ready." Lee Yeon-Hwa absently muttured, still staring blankly at the boy. She snapped back to reality and nodded with a firm expression. "Yes. I am ready."

"Then let's head right on in," Kim Ki-Rok said, pausing and turning to the side. "Ah, Hunter Kang-Ho, I'm afraid that I'll have to ask you to take care of all the other Hunters from your guild who have been working hard today."

It was strange that he was giving Kang-Ho orders even though he wasn't a Hunter from the Shine Guild. But since he was the benefactor of Lee Yeon-Hwa, the Guildmaster of Shine Guild, Kang-Ho simply nodded.

It wasn't a particularly troublesome request, and in fact, it was also something that he should be doing due to his position in the guild.

Ding ding.

The door to the cafe opened with the clear ring of bells.

Lee Yeon-Hwa headed straight toward her son, Cha Tae-Hoon, while Kim Ki-Rok slowly strode forward to meet with a young girl.

There were usually two types of criminals.

Criminals who committed crimes of their own volition.

Then, there were those who committed crimes because of the choices of others.

The girl in the basement, Kim Ji-Hee, was the latter.

Her name wasn't really Kim Ji-Hee either.

In other Attempts, she had become the S-Class Awakened criminal Il-Ho, Ma Ak-Soo's loyal subordinate. The strongest villain at the time who had awakened the worst psychic ability.

"

Ah!

" Kim Ki-Rok gasped.

In the previous Attempts, he had left her care in the hands of the Shine Guild.

However, in this Attempt, Lee Ji-Yeon had already joined his guild, and he had been able to personally intervene in the subjugation of Ma Ak-Soo.

"Oh my! It seems like an angel has fallen from heaven," Kim Ki-Rok declared dramatically.

The young girl who looked very pretty with her hair done up in two cute braids was wearing a pure white, one-piece dress.

The girl was eating a bite of the cake that a red-haired woman had offered her, while very tightly hugging a stuffed rabbit with a pocket watch around its neck, as if it were something extremely precious to her.

Perhaps she had heard Kim Ki-Rok's exclamation?

The young girl who was chewing a mouthful of the sweet cake with bulging cheeks suddenly raised her head.

After staring at him with wide eyes for a few moments, she shot out of her seat and quickly ran over to stand in front of Kim Ki-Rok.

"Un...cle..." Kim Ji-Hee slowly called out.

"Sorry, it seems I was a bit late. I wanted to get back before you woke up." Kim Ki-Rok apologized as he met her gaze.

Kim Ji-Hee shook her head quietly as she looked up at Kim Ki-Rok, who reached down to gently stroke her head.

"

Ummmm,

" she hummed.

"Are you saying that it's fine?" Kim Ki-Rok checked.

"Yes." Kim Ji-Hee nodded.

Kim Ki-Rok smiled. "Oh my, our Kim Ji-Hee is so kind."

"Our... Ji-Hee," she quietly mumbled to herself.

Did she like how he said "our"? Or perhaps she liked the name Ji-Hee?

In any case, Kim Ji-Hee's bashful smile was extremely cute.